Sunday, May 18, 2008

...And Still Champion!!!

by SavannahHe was supposed to be washed up and ready to step aside so that someone else could take his place in the rankings. Instead he's pulled further away from the pretender and closer to the reigning champion winning 7-5, 6-7(3), 6-3.Vamos Rafa!Returning champion Jelena Jankovic played up and coming French teenager Alize Cornet who came through qualifying to make the Italian Open Final taking out Anna Chakvetadze in her semi final. Jelena made it after Maria Sharapova withdrew with a calf injury. Jelena won easily 6-2, 6-2. Congratulations Jelena.Nenad Zimonjic and Daniel Nestor 2008 Mens Doubles Champions Hamburg MastersCongratulations as well to Chan Yung-Jan and Chuang Chia-Jung for winning the Doubles Championship in Roma.

5 comments:

Hi Savannah. I missed the whole thing, was away, but caught Rafa's postmatch interview (following win over the Pretender - hey, I like that nickname!) - he said he HAD to play, after losing early in Rome. His face and body language were telling. He looked determined, focused, grim almost - no smiles, just resolute. Same with the trophy presentation - a bit weary looking, but resolute. Interesting. I think keeping the number 2 ranking was pretty important to Rafa. Good on him.

Hi oddman! I was away all weekend at a cat show in Longview WA (dang these statutory holidays) so I couldn't watch either. I missed both the semi against Djoker and the final. I'd use the Internet access at the hotel to check the scores when I got a chance, but they did not allow streaming video, so I couldn't watch online. I found a nice woman benched across from us who had a laptop, so she very kindly allowed me to log on from time to time and check the scores :).

Our cats won, just like Rafa!

Anyway, I downloaded the final from ATP Masters Series TV when it was available and have watched the match a couple of times. To me it is hilarious to listen to the pundits say that Roger should get a confidence boost from the final -- he lost the first set ahead 5-1 and serving at set point -- how does he get a confidence boost from that? The commmentators kept saying how good Fed is at coming back, while right before their eyes Rafa did exactly that, with hardly a nod from them.

Anyway, I was simply amazed at how Rafa played throughout the match, and particularly in the 3rd set. That after having played a 3-hour tense match less than 24 hours before the start of the final.

Cool! My friends from Vancouver Island with whom I show cats (Abyssinians & Somalis (long-haired abys)) have also done the dog thing, showing Bullmastiffs, Boston Terriers, and English Bulldogs. What breed(s} do you show?

This is way off topic, but I would love to correspond privately with you if you are intersted -- if so, perhaps Savannah or Craig would be willing to pass along my e-mail address.